


Shadows

by leigh_adams



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-31
Updated: 2011-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-28 13:16:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/308242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leigh_adams/pseuds/leigh_adams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katie and Angelina deal with one of the casualties of war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fiery_flamingo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiery_flamingo/gifts).



The haze of battle was thick, drifting through the stone corridors of Hogwarts as it settled about the grounds like a suffocating blanket. It was something all the Muggle films got right; no matter what hour a battle took place, nor where it happened at, there was always a thick fog hanging about the battlefield. Inside the castle walls, fog dissipated into smoke; a thick, heavy layer of emissions from hexes and curses that missed their marks.

Katie was bleeding, a steady trickle of blood emanating from a gash on her temple, but she paid it no heed. The wound- a Slashing Hex that had missed its mark by a few feet- was superficial and would heal with proper treatment. There was no time, though, for medical treatment. Not while the overwhelming urge to protect what was hers thrummed through her veins like a drum, steady in its rhythm.

She’d lost track of Jonathan right after the battle started. It worried her a bit, but her brother was a capable fighter and an expert dueler; he would be fine. Lucas was safely out of Hogwarts and would soon be on his way out of England.

It was some relief to her that, should she fall in battle, her little brother would be safe.  
Screams echoed along the fourth-floor corridor, making the hairs on the back of Katie’s neck prickle in awareness. A cold terror washing along her spine, and her breath caught in her throat. She _knew_ that scream…

“ _Angie_!”

  
**  
_This morning I could hear the sounds  
The city burning to the ground  
Today I saw the sky come crashing down_   
**

_  
**I heard a whisper in my ear  
It said come with me, away from here  
And leave this burning buildings far behind you**   
_

She ran as fast as she could down the deserted hallway, her footsteps echoing around her as she ran as fast as she could. The heady rush of fear and adrenaline gave her tunnel-vision, though she wasn’t afraid of the possibility of death. What made her heart pound faster was the idea of what she might find whenever she rounded the corner. _Dear Merlin, please let Angie be alright_.

Her wand was at the ready as she whipped around the bend in the corridor, and her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of her best friend, convulsing in pain on the stone floor. Katie’s vision went red, and all she could think about was making that sorry, masked son of a bitch _pay_.

“ _Crucio_!” she screamed, pointing her wand at the Death Eater before he had time to turn his wand on her.

Her foe dropped to the ground, screaming in agony as the sheer force of Katie’s rage powered the curse. Though she knew the theory behind such, she’d never cast an Unforgiveable before. She hadn’t been prepared, though, for the immense _satisfaction_ it wrought in her as she watched the vermin who’d cursed her friend writhe on the floor.

A few quick spells, and he was additionally bound and gagged, his wand in the pocket of her denims as Katie knelt on the floor next Angie. The older girl had stopped moaning and was still, and her inactions made Katie automatically assume the worst.

“Angie,” she said, fingers seeking out the pulse point in her neck. “Can you hear me? Are you alright?” When her friend didn’t say anything, she said, “Merlin, Angie, say _something_!”

  
**  
_But it was far too late  
So it all came crashing down_   
**

_  
**I can see your shadow's much too far behind you  
And I can see you're much too late **   
_

After what felt like _hours_ to Katie- though it was really no more than a minute- Angie stirred, her eyelashes fluttering as she looked up at her friend. “Katie?” she murmured groggily. “S’at you?”

“Shhh, it’s me,” she replied, stroking Angie’s long black hair soothingly. “Are you alright? What happened?”

Angie shook her head and struggled to sit up. “That- that tosser,” she spat towards their gagged captive, “though he’d have a bit of fun with me.” She waved off Katie’s attempts to keep her on the ground, and pushed up into a sitting position. Her lips curled into a snarl, and she flipped the Death Eater two fingers. “Fuck you, boy-oh. I’m still breathing, aren’t I?”

Despite her initial fear, Katie couldn’t help but laugh. “Thank Merlin for that because if you weren’t, I’d find some dark magic to bring you back to life just so I could kill you again.”  
“Now you know how the rest of us felt last year when you were pulling that comatose act in St. Mungo’s.”

“Yes, yes, fun times for everyone,” Katie said exasperatedly. She held her hand out and helped pull Angie to her feet, dusting the grime and dirt off her clothes. “What should we do with him?”

“I’ve a few ideas,” Angie growled. Stalking across the corridor, she pulled back and kicked the masked man square across the face. “You like that, you piece of _filth_?!” she screamed, kicking him again. His silver mask flew off, revealing the steady stream of blood gushing out of his nose. “Not so much fun when you’re the one getting the shite knocked out of you, is it?”

“Angie,” Katie said, laying a hand on her friend’s arm. “Come on, he isn’t worth it.”

“I want him to _bleed_!” her friend screamed as she reeled about to face her. Angie’s brown eyes were wild, and combined with her heaving chest and blood-streaked hair, she painted a fearsome picture.

“I know, I know,” she hurriedly said, “but he _is_ bleeding. Let’s leave him here. I have his wand, and after this is over, we can come back and you can continue kicking him.”

“I’d rather _kill_ him,” her friend muttered darkly, but with one last kick to her attacker’s chest, she let Katie lead her out of the corridor and back towards the entrance hall.

  
**  
_At night we watched the stars explode  
The blackest sky we'd ever known  
The moon came falling down just shortly after_   
**

_  
**The earth that we were standing on  
Was burning and would soon be gone  
Unless the oceans started overflowing**   
_

The sounds of the battle seemed to have died down as they cautiously peeked out into the entrance hall. From their vantage point, Katie could see people moving in and out of the Great Hall, some of them carrying… bodies.

“It isn’t over, is it?” Angie said softly, squeezing Katie’s hand.

“I don’t think so,” the brunette answered even though she had no idea if the battle was over or not. Though it had to be nearing dawn, it felt as if they’d been fighting for days instead of hours. Surely, though, if either Harry or the Dark Lord were dead, they would have known. Something like that… it would affect the very life force that pulsed around them.

A movement from the great doors caught her eye, and she turned to see who had entered. A soft gasp slipped her lips when she saw Oliver, carrying the small, lifeless body of Colin Creevey in his arms.

“Oh, _Colin_ ,” she whispered. He wasn’t supposed to be here, dammit!

Angie’s voice was soft. “I hope whoever killed the kid rots in the seventh circle of hell for the rest of eternity,” she said, her voice firm with resolution.

“They will,” Katie answered.

The Great Hall was filled with Order members, their allies, the wounded, and the fallen. Katie could see the lifeless bodies of Professor Lupin and his Auror wife, their faces peaceful in death. She hurriedly scanned the other fallen, and sighed in relief when she didn’t see her brother among them.

Next to her, Angie had stopped moving. Tugging on her hand, Katie turned to her and started to speak, but the look on her friend’s face cut her off. A look of shock was evident, and her eyes were wide as she stared straight ahead.

“What is it, Ange?” Katie asked softly, looking towards whatever Angie was looking at. Immediately, she froze, and her heart practically stopped beating in her chest as cold shock spread throughout her system, rendering her mind and body useless.

Amongst all the bodies laid Fred.

  
**  
_I can see your shadow's much too far behind you  
And I can see you're much too late  
I can see your shadow's much too far behind you  
And I can see you're much too late_   
**

_  
**This morning I could hear the sounds  
The city burning to the ground  
And I could hardly even hear you breathe**   
_

“ _No_ ,” Katie whispered. The tears were already streaming down her cheeks, gaining in momentum as they began to fall. “Merlin, please, _no_!” Fred _couldn’t_ be dead, he just _couldn’t_. It had barely been two hours since she’d seen him last, when he and George had pressed sloppy kisses to her cheeks before following the other DA member’s out of the Room of Requirement.

A hiccup-gasp snapped Katie out of her reverie, and she immediately turned to wrap her arms around Angelina. Even though Fred had been one of her best friends, he’d been _Angie’s_. There had been no question of that from the moment they started running around together back in fourth year.

“He’s… he’s just playing a prank,” Angie whispered. “You’ll see, he’s okay.” The sheer desperation in her tone of voice made Katie’s heart clench, and she clutched at Angie tighter.

“I don’t think he is,” she whispered.

“No.” Angie whispered the word, but it grew in volume as she began to say it over and over again. “No no no no _no_!” Her hands slid up to grip at Katie’s shirt, long fingers fisting in the material as she slowly descended into hysterics. Her wails of agony echoed off the walls of the Great Wall, and her hair continually whirled about her as she shook her head from side to side. “ _NO_!”

There was nothing Katie could do except hold onto Angie. There was nothing she could say, no words that would bring her friend comfort. Her lover, her best friend, was dead, and nothing Katie did or said would change that fact for Angie.

Angelina continued to cry out fitfully, and Katie loosened her grip on her friend to draw back slightly. Seizing the moment, Angie wrenched herself the rest of the way out of her friend’s grasp and ran out of the Great Hall, her long black hair flowing behind her.

Katie made to follow, but a hand on her wrist stopped her. She whirled about, letting out a small cry when she recognized the slightly bruised face of her brother, Jonathan. Without a word, she threw her arms around him, sobbing in relief when he returned her embrace, letting his chin rest on top of her head.

“I’m sorry, Kates,” he murmured into her hair as he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.  
Comforted by her brother’s embrace, Katie let herself cry out the pain and emptiness that she felt. Nothing they had learned, nothing they had expected, had prepared her for the familiar hole that Death left in her heart. Time would pass, and they would eventually heal.  
But it certainly didn’t feel like it.

  
**  
_At night we watched the stars explode with you_   
**   


**Author's Note:**

> ritten as part of my [April Drabble Meme](http://leigh-adams.livejournal.com/80776.html). fiery_flamingo requested Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, using the song [Shadows](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42mPU3J00wU) by The Getaway Plan as the prompt.


End file.
